


I Heard // You Heard

by kinpika



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Greasy food and lamenting the unfortunate sending of dick pics, M/M, Snooping and other fun team bonding exercises, What do you mean your relationship isn't our business as well, When your friends care about your relationship too much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 20:46:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7772806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinpika/pseuds/kinpika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith is dating an older guy. Like, way older. Like he's ancient, Keith, we saw him buy hair dye at the store the other day, <i>he's greying already</i>. It's okay, Keith. Your friends have got your back, and best intentions at heart. Mostly. Don't trust them with your phone. </p><p>Shiro is dating a younger guy. Is this what one could consider a '<i>midlife crisis</i>', Shiro? We need your valuable knowledge on this matter to determine if you need a red sports car to accompany the younger partner. Did you buy him a suit too, Shiro, to really live up to the sugar daddy standard?</p><p>And quite frankly, it's nobody's business, but everyone likes to stick their nose into it anyway.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Heard // You Heard

“Dude, he’s, like, _ancient_.”

Not only had it been at least the tenth reiteration of a comment on age, Keith had had to suffer through the last hour alone of snooping. Hunk, for his effort, had at least been gentler about his questions and concerns. But, one day, if Lance didn’t learn what a filter was, Keith was going to smack the definition into his nose, no matter the consequences. 

“He’s not _that_ old.”

It was like going through the same lines, over and over. Lance would say something about how the guy probably creaks in the morning, and Keith would repeat, once again, that he really wasn’t getting on in age. They’d return to their essay (due in the next few hours, even), generally after a sigh from Hunk or Lance, or both, some varying level of dramatic, before it went silent once more. And then, finally, one of them would break the relatively pleasant silence with another, repeated concern.

Always about age.

“At least a good decade on you.”

Keith had thought Hunk had been on his side, just a little bit. He blinks, incredulously, as Hunk basically had ‘Team Lance’ flashing on a sign over his head. “Did you actually work out how many years?”

“I can tell you the exact number of days, if you want.”

“I’ll pass.”

“I want to know, Hunk, that way, when this blows up in Keith’s face, I can remind him that he’s at least a million days younger than this dude.” Lance is just so surely determined, Keith could appreciate the unnecessary concern, but he also appreciated the little doodles in the margin of his book of stick figure murder. 

Pursing his lips, he huffs. “It wouldn’t even be _close_ to a million.”

“Hunk, your time to shine, buddy.”

With a roll of his eyes, Hunk presses his pen firmly against Lance’s wandering hand, intent to get towards his calculator, which had been working out the age difference in _days_. “Lance, it’s not even close to a million. A few thousand, but about nine hundred thousand shy of a million.”

Scandalised, Lance turns a shade of red, and proceeds to fight Hunk for his calculator. Watching them, Keith raised a brow, looked at his unfinished essay, and knew it wasn’t going to work. At least he had written past the title this time. Just stuck on the conclusion, and, oh, there goes Lance, falling back with his chair. The neighbours were going to kill them, all of them, if they made anymore noise. Keith had already heard the telltale signs of canes beating against the walls when he had dared to make popcorn a few hours ago.

Maybe it was a good time to kick Lance and Hunk out, if only to save his poor essay, and his brain from being mushed by more questions. Running a hand over his face, Keith pushes himself up, as Hunk tries valiantly to smother his laughter. 

But then his phone buzzes, and, honestly, it was the longest pause Keith had experienced. Possibly more awkward than that one time where he was part of the debate club in sixth grade (Lance had never quite let him live that one down). God, he wants one of them to just _say_ something.

“Is that from _him_.” Not something like that, however.

Keith picks up his phone, squinting at the screen. “I don’t know.” It is. “Ignore it.” It’s a photo.

“No offence, Keith, but you’ve always been a bad liar.” Hunk let him down once again. And he’s smiling at him weirdly, weirdly enough that Keith thinks he’s been spending far too much time around Lance once again. They needed to go on a friend-break, if only so Keith wouldn’t have to suffer from Lance and Lance junior. 

“It’s a dick pic, isn’t it.”

“ _No!_ ” Keith shouts a little too fast, a little too loud, and he’s dashing for his room, as the neighbours are banging on the wall again, telling him to shut up. Lance chases him to his room, _ohmygodohmygodohmygod it is!_ following Keith like something out of a horror film.

“Fuck off, Lance!”

“No way, _share_!”

“I thought he was too old for you!”

“Yeah, but you’ve got a dick pic. Has he sent you more? I bet he has.” 

“Keith, you are so red right now.” Hunk had followed them, leaning against the doorframe as Keith tried to roll Lance off of him, because, shit, he managed to get tackled as he tried to clear his lock screen.

“I hate the both of you!” He shouts, once more, because his phone flies from his hands as it goes off once more, and Lance is leaping for it. This would be something he would never live down. They would bring it up again when they were in a retirement home, and Keith was certain he would finally be put away for murder. Here lies Lance, death would have come to him sooner if Hunk hadn’t insisted on saving his ass from Keith once more.

 

“Holy fucking shit he’s _hung._ ”

Keith would never, ever live this down. He would miss the days where their only problem would be his age, not Lance asking how it would _fit_.

 

 

Allura watched him pace, and did not try to smother the grin that completely overtook her. “You should have seen this coming, to be fair.”

Finally, he stopped, and turned to face her. “You’re the one who talked me _into_ it!”

“Shiro, had I known you would _actually_ go through with it, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

A pause, before Shiro turns a glare on Allura that would make anyone weaker wet themselves. But she wasn’t that other person, and had years to build up all kinds of defences to Shiro. Mostly, it just amused her now. “Yes, you would have.”

“Okay, yes I would have.” He practically pouts at her little laugh. “But really, this was all your own fault.”

“I should have asked Matt about what to do.”

A snort. “Of course, because Matt Holt is a _fountain_ of wisdom when it comes to relationships.”

“He’s not that bad.”

“Need I remind you the last time you asked him for advice, he got the weather wrong, ended up stranding you and your date at the top of a ferris wheel, which you had to be rescued from?” Ticking off each incident on her fingers, Allura was sure she had inadvertently skipped a few, but the message made itself clear. At least, she hoped so. Shiro had the unfortunate streak of ignoring Allura to the point where she literally had the throw him across the room once so he would not do the thing.

Shiro goes to say something, before thinking otherwise. Snaps his mouth shut and finally falls on the lounge, covering his face with his hands. Determined to practically sink into the leather, apparently, and Allura unfolds herself from where she had been leaning against the counter. Honestly, how anyone thought Shiro was quite the catch bewildered her, especially if they knew this man barely knew how to flirt. If anyone found out it had taken him a month to ask the barista for his name, only to realise it was on his name badge, Allura was sure Shiro would never live it down.

“Look on the bright side! You had fun with a _younger man_. Something you can tick off on your midlife crisis list.”

Between his fingers, Shiro stares at her. “You’ve been watching too many movies again. I liked you better when you were young and unaware.” His complaint is muffled by hands, but it has her laughing. True, when she had been ‘fresh off the boat’, Allura’s outlook on life had been far less complicated. Shiro and his ‘mating rituals’, as she had come to call them to his embarrassment, were definitely something she enjoyed watching, especially over yearly Valentine movies.

“I liked you better when you didn’t make a Shiro-sized imprint in my lounge. Come on, I’ll buy you lunch, and you can wallow in as much greasy food as you want.”

A muffled groan, but Shiro finally rolls off the lounge. Slow, as he walks to the door, and Allura keeps one hand firmly planted in the middle of his back to keep him going. She was hungry too, but that was beside the point. At least, she promised him that was the case when he argued she was a little too eager to get in the car. It was all for making him feel better, as he stuffed his face and cried into his thickshake. “I’m a human embarrassment,” he sighs, again, as Allura delicately picks the abandoned pickles off his burger wrapper, stuffing them in her own.

“We already knew that, but yes, you are.”

“Not helping.”

“My help ended when you ordered that — what is it? A _quad_ stack?” Scoffing, Allura takes some fries too, just because she can. Those too end up in her burger. She would never tell Shiro this, but she was glad Matt had introduced her to shoving fries into a burger, although she still didn’t believe him that soft serves and fries tasted that fantastic. “I have a budget.”

“You are literally the daughter of a millionaire mogul.” Shiro had a point, but, she had to argue it.

“You ordered a burger that’s four times the size of mine.”

“Sometimes, I can’t believe that you are older than me. Maybe _you_ are living your midlife crisis vicariously through me. Is that why you encouraged me?” Gasping, Shiro points across the table at her. “I _knew_ it!”

“Slow down there, Shirogane. Save that thought for when you have a red sports car. Then, by all means, accuse me of ‘living through you’.” 

“You just wish you could send dick pics, I get it.”

“Is this the part of grieving where you accept that you sent the dick pic of your own volition? No more denial or accusations?”

“Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of my burger.”

“I’m telling your next interviewer about this entire thing. I’ll make thousands. Just you watch, Shiro.”

“Lalala, not listening!”

 

Allura does in fact, get a text from Shiro, several hours later. And by several hours, she means at a time closer to three thirty in the next morning, but she wasn’t keeping count. Blinking, she held the phone close enough to her nose so that she could read the screen.

>> _he texted back!_

Shirogane was going to die, and they were never going to find the body, because he woke her up over a romantic breakthrough. He knew she liked it better when he was crying into fries over conflict. Goddamn, she was going to use him as a weight tomorrow at their daily gym session. And he would regret everything.

 

 

Not that it was fair, but Pidge was fairly sure she was the only one who actually knew how their relationship even started. Whilst Shiro had said something about a barista who he thought was really attractive (not a lie), how they had made it from point a to point b was a grey area. Even Allura didn’t know the specifics, and Matt was only interested in someone’s romantic life when he wasn’t off jet setting around the world, lecturing to the masses over what he discovered about outer space. Which was really hard for him not to do, and Pidge was trying to do that right now. Fill her brother in, so that when he finally got home, he wouldn’t stare blankly at Shiro for a few hours.

“So, it took Shiro like a month to talk to the guy.” She’d already said this at least a dozen times, but Matt was looking at something off screen, and if she could, Pidge would reach through the screen and throttle her brother for not listening.

 _“Mmhmm._ ” Matt handed some file over, said something aside to someone, ate his dinner. Pidge’s stomach growled, and it was getting close to lunch time where she was.

“Matt, do you want Shiro to tell you what happened, or would you rather me?”

“ _Yeah, give that to dad, it’s the — sorry, Katie. I’m just… we’re really busy._ ”

“You were the one who messaged me about wanting to know the whole story.”

“ _To be fair, I hadn’t expected this relationship to actually have been going on for a few months. Why did it take so long for everyone to realise?_ ”

“If you were paying attention, I said it was because Shiro turned down a Saturday night movie—”

_“Which he never does.”_

“Which got Allura curious. So we followed him, and saw him out on a date.” 

“ _Stalking can get you time in jail, Katie, in case you didn’t know_.”

Pidge watches as Matt picks up his phone, swiping to likely answer the phone call, so she speaks up. “So can grievous murder. Be thankful you are out of my reach.” 

“ _I worry that you don’t spend enough time with people your own age_.” At least Matt seemed to get the message, and set his phone down, far away, crossing and uncrossing his legs. Pidge picked under her nails, and rolled her eyes at the sentiment of ‘people her own age’. 

“Ah, yes, if you are referring to the fact that I don’t actually have people my own age around me, you would be right. Remember that whole ‘I’m a child genius so I skipped a few grades and now I’m in university thing’? Still happening, by the way. Just so you remember.”

“ _That’s not what I meant_.”

“No, that’s exactly what you meant. But I’m not going to argue about how I am now ‘socially inept’, as you so politely put it last week. I want to talk about Shiro going out with a younger guy.”

Matt seemed partway through a rebuttal, words already formed in his head, likely to defend himself against Pidge referring to their last argument, when he stopped. “ _Wait — he’s_ younger?!”

“That’s what I’ve been _saying_ for hours!”

“ _Oh my god!!”_ And just like that, Pidge had her brother’s full attention. She would have saved herself some call time, clearly, if she had said that from the start. The screen goes kind of wobbly as Matt picks up his laptop, and seems to move to another room.

But that doesn’t stop her from talking. “I _knoooooow_ , right?! Shiro, the paragon of virtue and goodwill and… and kittens! Dating a younger guy.”

“ _I’m just… oh my gooooood how much younger is he?_ ”

“Like a good ten years? Maybe more? Wait, how old is Shiro now, anyway?” 

Not that she was actually expecting an answer to her question, because Matt squawks out a “ _Holy fucking shit!”_

“I know, right?” Pidge was unable to stop her grin now, as Matt finally seemed to settle in another room, and Pidge watched the slightly grainy image of her brother look honestly baffled. 

“ _Like, what does this kid do? Oh, wait, please tell me he’s at least legally an adult.”_

“The kid is like twenty, or something around there. I actually think I have a class with him — one of my advanced gravity class things. Those bullshit sessions I have to attend.”

If Matt wanted to berate her over referring to gravity as bullshit, he seemed to store that argument for later, if only because he was close to falling out of his chair. “ _Get me a photo, I have to see. I’m never letting Shiro live this down_.”

“Oh, trust me, neither is Allura.”

“ _Oh my god. Just… oh my god? I never knew Shiro had it in him. Takashi Shirogane, dating a younger dude.”_

“Okay, technically it’s Shirogane Takashi, but yeah, right? _Right_? Scandalous.”

Matt goes quiet, for just a moment, when finally he sighs. “ _I can’t believe he beat me to dating someone younger.”_

Scoffing, Pidge shifted her legs, in an attempt to not give away that her right one had gone to sleep. “That is your concern? That he ‘beat’ you?!” Of course her brother would make this a competition. One that Shiro was _completely_ unaware of. Maybe, one day, Pidge would let Shiro know that Matt was secretly super competitive about everything, and that Shiro was his number one obstacle. It might break Shiro’s heart, hearing that.

“ _I have everything concerning Shiro at heart, don’t worry about that, sis, but… Well I’m not surprised. I would date Shiro, too, if I got the chance.”_

“Uh, okay. Have you been drinking? You get all sappy about Shiro and start waxing poetry when you do.”

“ _No, thank you, I have not._ ”

“Right. Remind me to tell Shiro that you love everything about him, including but not limited to his _‘hot bod’_ the next time I see him.”

“ _I told you that in confidence, Katie. I will end you_.”

“Love you too, bro. Don’t bust a nut while you’re out being a big time tv star. Think of us, the little people, once in a while.”

“ _I’m hanging up on you.”_

“Aw, don’t be such a sore loser!”

“ _I hate you so much.”_

Pidge just laughs and laughs, until Matt finally cracks a smile too.

 

“You know, if you sold your story to a magazine, they might publish it. The ‘one sided love story for the ages’, or something.”

Matt snorts. “ _And your point is?_ ”

“They might make up a ship name for you!”

“ _Katie, do I really want to know what a ‘ship name’ is?”_

 _“_ I’m thinking it might be ‘Shatt’.”

“ _The fuck is a ‘shatt’?_ ”

“Like a mix of your names. Shiro and Matt. Just so you know, I’m rooting for you, buddy.”

_“Of all the things — alright, no, I’m definitely hanging up. Say ‘hi’ to mum for me. Tell her dad misses her cooking.”_

“I’ll make a badge. ‘Team Shatt’. Someone out there will eat that _shatt_ up.”

_“Oh my fucking god.”_

“You love it.”

“ _Bye_!”

With a laugh, Pidge watches her brother’s face disappear from her screen, and sits for a good minute trying to stop. Matt was too easy to rile up, honestly. Whilst he totally called his affection for Shiro an unfortunate amount of tragic, something that the Shakespearean in him adored, it was always funny to get him flustered over it. 

Her computer beeps, and Pidge opens the chat bar.

>> _‘mairo’ is definitely a better name_

Pidge doesn’t stop laughing for a week.

 

 

Okay, but Hunk felt _really_ bad. Like, really, really, _super_ bad, that he had even got involved. No, wait, that he had let Lance convince him it was a good idea to get involved. Hunk was only there simply to save Keith from any further embarrassment from Lance, and also to make sure Lance wouldn’t intervene before a necessary level. Although, he was sure that Lance held a different standard to what counted as intervening, as they sat at a coffee shop across the road, staring over.

“He totally knows we’re here.”

With a scoff, Lance waves a hand, as if batting away all of Hunk’s problems. “Keith is the most oblivious person I know. No way.”

“I’m going to text him.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Lance, you already embarrassed him the other week over the…”

“Dick pic,” Lance offers, quite happily saying it, enough to get a few stares.

With a cough, Hunk tries to slide down further in his chair. “Yeah, that one. But, I think he really likes this guy. Like, really, really _likes_ him, Lance. Just, let him do his own thing.”

Hunk has tried everything to get Lance to stop ‘trying to help’, as he liked to call it. Even if he had managed to get Lance to stop claiming that the guy’s bones creaked with every breath, rather loudly and in front of everyone, he was still so insistent to watch. Unfortunately, not just watch it all unfold, but watch and push Keith along in certain directions. As if he was playing one of those dating sims, and playing shoulder angel. Or devil. Hunk hadn’t quite decided what role Lance was actually trying to take most days.

“We haven’t even seen the guy yet. Let’s just wait it out. If he doesn’t turn up, we’ll bump into Keith and be all ‘whoa, sorry, didn’t see you there’, and save him, alright?”

It’s a struggle not to smile, as Lance pouted as he spoke, chin in hand. Keith’s best intentions at heart, as he watched over the rim of his sunglasses. Across the street, Keith was fiddling with his phone, but occasionally, he looked up, looking steadily concerned with each passing few minutes. 

“He’s probably not even that old, you know.”

“Keith told us his birthdate. He’s old as balls.”

“Did he ever tell us his name?”

Lance snorts. “No, he showed us the guy’s dick. It’s like a one night stand, except we aren’t actually involved. Just observers. I think I’m into voyeurism.”

“Okay, technically you tackled him for his phone. And stop referring to this as a one night stand, please. Especially us. And him. And… _them_. How does that even work out?”

Shrugging, Lance tips back in his chair as their drinks arrive. Another look from the waiter, as he had seemed to catch what Hunk had said. He would never be able to explain this to anyone, ever. As long as he didn’t run into family or friends, he might just survive. Look back at this experience in a year’s time and laugh it off. 

“Dude, he’s running really late.”

“That, or Keith was just really early.”

“Yeah, who figured Keith would actually be _punctual—“_ Lance goes on, an attempt to say something else, but Hunk holds out a hand, pointing quite obviously. Maybe it was a good thing that Keith really was not the most observant person they had ever met.

“Okay, ignore your attempt at a rivalry for a second, I think that’s the guy.”

Following his finger, Lance squinted, before removing his glasses altogether. From where they sit, they could just barely make out the guy’s face, but they could definitely make out the grin on Keith’s. Hunk wasn’t quite sure of the last time he had ever seen Keith smile, let alone _hug_ someone as a greeting. If he thought about it, Hunk was sure that the last time Keith had hugged someone, it was only because Lance’s mum was a hugger, and she had loved having Lance’s friends over for the summer.

“Oh my god.”

“Right? Okay, well we can confirm that the dude he’s dating is a real person, and he doesn’t really look that old—”

“No, Hunk, shut up a second. Oh my god, I’m going to kill him.”

“Wow, rude. You shut up. You’re paying for the bill now.”

“Oh my god!”

“You’ve said that like three times now.”

“Do you know who that is?!”

“That would be Keith’s _suitor_.”

Lance finally turns on him, and Hunk does have a momentary thought that he might be seeing stars soon. Raising his hands to defend himself, in the event of any oncoming attacks, it takes Hunk a few minutes to realise that Lance was not going to pounce. If anything, he had merely sunk into his chair, covering his face with his hands. Hunk managed to make out a small “I hate him so much”, muffled but repeated so often that it was probably the one sentence said by Lance too often, that he would recognise it anywhere.

“I’m missing something, aren’t I?” Wondering aloud, Hunk squints as he looks back over to where Keith sat with the guy now. They weren’t holding hands, and Hunk knew they were missing out on a truly Hollywood moment here.

“That’s Shiro.”

“Okay, because I know who that is.”

“You know, Shirogane Takashi! He like _invented_ the universe.”

“I’m pretty sure it was a big bang, but I’m listening.”

“Graduated top of his class, flies jets for a living, did that amazing rescue a few years back. Guest lecturer last semester — oh my god that explains why Keith hung back afterwards. He never hangs back. He was _fucking_ the lecturer.”

“We don’t know that, Lance. Stop making assumptions.”

“Hunk! Keith is sleeping with a legend!”

“Just shout it out. Let it all go. We aren’t getting stared at anyway, or anything.”

“I hate him. I honestly hate him.”

“I gathered that.”

“How dare he sleep with my hero _before_ me.”

“Didn’t realise this was a competition either. Am I just talking to myself at this point?”

“Keith just broke all the rules of bro-hood. I’m breaking up with him.”

Exasperated, Hunk waved a hand in front of Lance’s face, trying to drag him back to their table, far from Keith’s. “I don’t even know where to start with you, Lance, honestly. A little too much personal stuff to process here.”

“I showed him a picture of Shiro the other day and — oh my god he knew. That bastard.”

“Don’t be fucking rude.”

Slamming his hands down on the table, Lance looked several shades of pissed off. “I’m going over there, and you can’t stop me.”

 

Hunk didn’t actually attempt to stop Lance, because he knew it was futile. He did manage to send a text to Keith just before Lance stalked his way across the road, warning him of the oncoming _killer storm._ Something that Lance had once called himself (which ended up becoming an inside joke, and to refer to him as being in one of those moods where anything could happen). Keith texted back a short ‘thanks’, and Hunk watched it all unfold.

He could almost hear the ‘wow Keith, fancy running into you here, oh who is this, wow you’re my _hero,_ Shiro! what are the chances wow let me suck your dick!’. Maybe not that last part. But from how Lance leaned over the back of Keith’s chair, it was getting pretty damn close. Sighing, Hunk left a few notes on the table, and made his way over. He was going to save someone, and he wasn’t quite sure if it was Lance from Keith, or Keith from Lance. Or even, Shiro from the both of them.

 

 

“I liked meeting your friends the other day.”

Keith is partway through eating his pizza when Shiro interrupts. Not that he could help himself, as it was definitely a looming conversation topic since the other day. Whilst Keith had been quite insistent about not introducing him to anyone just yet, Shiro hadn’t either. Maybe, it was still from the embarrassment of falling head over heels for Keith, and also how Allura and Pidge (and Matt, recently), had stuck in his head he was having a midlife crisis.

But he wasn’t anywhere near his midlife, as he kept having to remind himself. They were just teasing him, because they knew it got a rise. Shiro couldn’t wait for the day where he could simply shrug off Allura’s voice in the back of his head, asking if he was ready to start buying clothing for Keith, to take him ‘out on the town’.

“I don’t.” Keith seemed rather put out, and Shiro nudged his shoulder. Well, perhaps the way they had all met hadn’t been in Keith’s plans, but it was good. Made it somewhat easier, and alleviated some of the stress he had about their entire relationship. If they both hadn’t messed up a month ago, separately, admitting to people they were seeing someone, Shiro was sure they could’ve gone on for another few months, quietly together.

And, as much as he missed the four months of just them, no one else interjecting their own thoughts into their relationship, he did like finally being able to talk about it. “They really care for you, Keith. I could tell.”

“I think they’re just sticking their nose in because they have nothing better to do.”

Shiro laughs, and swipes at the remnants of pizza at the corner of Keith’s mouth. “Maybe they just want to make sure you’re okay?”

“Lance wanted to date you, like, all the way through high school.”

“ _What_?”

“I think he’s mad at me for meeting you first. And, dating you first. At least, according to Hunk.”

“I don’t know how to interpret that at all.”

“Be flattered. And, kiss me, that’s fine too.”

Chuckling, Shiro does as he’s told — feeling quite flattered that Keith’s friends do like him (in some respect), and also the kissing part. Definitely that part is his favourite, as Keith drops his slice and loops his arms around Shiro’s neck. Slow and lazy kisses, as Keith tastes like tomato, and does this little panting thing when they separate that _does_ things to Shiro. Too wired up from a kiss alone, and he knows he’s an absolute goner. 

Absolutely, especially when the doorbell rings, and he remembers his actual intentions behind inviting Keith over. As much as he wanted to make full use of how he had somehow lowered Keith into the couch, whoever was at the door was quite insistent. Keith raised a brow, eyes sliding over in the general direction of the source of the noise.

Shiro was going to kill them. Perfect timing, as always.

Pushing himself up, Shiro is purposely slow as he wipes his hands, trying to rid some of the grease of the pizza, and readjusts himself. Just in case. Keith flopped back, utter disinterest in trying to hide the fact that they were just making out on the couch, leaving greasy fingerprints on the tv remote, one leg hanging off the end of the couch. If voices hadn’t started to erupt, Shiro would’ve ignored the world in favour of Keith right then and there.

Oh boy, it had been a long time since he was like this. Throwing the door open, Shiro held it only slightly open, so that he was just visible. “What do you want?”

“Glad to see you fully clothed.” Allura beamed at him, and Shiro could see Pidge stick her head out from behind Allura, a matching smile on her face. It was almost like the words _we can do no wrong_ appeared over their heads in magic gold script, but he knew otherwise.

“I’m busy.”

Pidge spoke up then, holding up a finger as if to emphasis her point. “Technically you invited us over.”

“Come back later.”

“I smell pizza.”

“Was it a bad day again?”

Their voices clamoured over each other, until Shiro hung his head and opened the door. Looking over at the couch, he could see Keith stick his head up, suddenly aware of more people in Shiro’s small apartment. Shiro mouthed an apology as Allura and Pidge walked, Keith merely did a shrug accompanied by the tilt of his head, and moved his legs to let Pidge sit.

He can barely get a word out, as Allura has settled herself on Her Chair to the right of the tv, and Shiro takes the one on the left. They’re chatty, and Keith doesn’t seem to know where to jump in. Odd, as Shiro had gathered that Lance and Hunk talked, a lot (especially the former, he didn’t stop until Keith had dragged him away). Or maybe, it was just simply Keith was content to listen. There was still much Shiro didn’t know, and nearing the six month point in their relationship, it was starting to show a bit. Maybe not to anyone else, but he could feel the nerves, as each interaction pointed out how little he knew.

Allura tucks her feet under her, and Shiro closes his eyes as he dreads the inevitable interrogation. Sorry Keith, he thinks, and reaches for another slice of margherita. “So, Keith… what do you do?”

“I’m a student.”

“Oh, a student. You hear that, Pidge, he’s a student.”

Realising she had been addressed, Pidge pipes up. “We actually have a class together. That advanced gravity class.”

“Yeah, the bullshit one.”

“Shiro, I like him.”

“Gravity is not _bullshit_ , both of you. And, why didn’t you tell me, Pidge?” Allura is the one speaking up, thankfully saving Shiro from admonishing the younger of the group. This was one of those times that Shiro wished Matt were here — Pidge would’ve been far too focused on _accosting_ her brother for his latest appearance in a newspaper to give any thought to anything else.

“I only realised the other day when I was talking to Matt.”

“Whose ‘Matt’?”

“My older brother. Also, in love with Shiro.” Pidge doesn’t miss a beat, in tacking that piece of information on. 

“No he’s not.”

“Shiro, a lot of people are in love with you, I’ve realised.”

“ _Keith!_ ”

Allura is laughing, and Shiro just wants to sink into his chair. Regret was this moment, of introducing his friends to Keith, and inadvertently seeing them adopt him. Surely, in a few days, he would appreciate how easily they seemed to accept him into their fold, but with the big blinking sign over Keith’s head, reading _one of us one of us_ , Shiro knew he wouldn’t escape any future embarrassments. 

“They’re just making it up.”

“Alright, you keep telling yourself that, stud.” Allura winks, and Shiro has to restrain himself from launching the last of the pizza across the room at her smug face.

“You’ve been watching too many tv shows again.”

“What are you watching?” Keith seems to take that as a turn in the conversation, and Shiro was quite happy to let it go. No need to drill Allura and Pidge until much later.

“At the moment, I’ve been marathoning _Galaxies and the Universe_.”

“Is that the one with the crew in outer space and there’s like four families and they all date each other?”

“ _Yes_! It’s been going for years.”

“I like Sven, he’s cool.”

“Of course you’d like _him_.” Pidge scoffs, as Keith turns over the tv to an encore repeat of the show they all seemed to watch. He never quite got soap operas, let alone space operas, but the three of them got quite into watching Sven, or whatever his name was, propose to his love interest.

“Anyone want a drink?”

Instantly, he gets shushed, and Shiro shakes his head. Taking that as a cue of dismissal, he’s gathering cups from the kitchen when he hears someone shout “why, Sven, _why_!” and assumes it’s that one part where the guy died. He had watched that three times over with Keith on the weekend, and Shiro was fairly sure Keith had actually cried.

When he’s walking back, Shiro noted that Keith had been shoved into the middle of the couch, Pidge and Allura firmly pressed either side of him. Ah, he hadn’t realised it was a marathon showing. Standing behind them, he watched as the ‘space crew’ made up some bullshit concerning a electromagnetic field, and pressed his lips firmly to the top of Keith’s head. “This is why you need to pass your classes, so you won’t end up like that.”

Shiro isn’t sure who it is who swats him away, but Keith laughs, just a little, just enough. Settling back in his chair, cups and drink firmly out of the line of fire so he won’t get accused of standing in the way of the screen, Shiro watches them. A slight smile cracks on his lips, and he takes a photo.

 

“It’s still kind of weird, you know.”

Sighing, Shiro shoves the now empty pizza boxes in the pile of recycling, and turns to face Pidge. “What is?”

“That you’re so grossly into him.”

“I thought you were going to complain about the age thing again.”

“Yeah, that too. That’s a given. Unless you want me to talk about it again.”

“Pidge, just because you are far wiser beyond your years than people give you credit for, it doesn’t mean you can stick your nose into my business.”

“Wait, say that again. I got stuck at ‘wiser beyond your years’.”

“Katie.”

“Alright, alright. I’m only teasing, you know that, right?”

“I know.”

“But, it’s still kind of weird.”

“I’m warning you.”

“I’m worried about you, mostly.”

“That’s real sweet of you.”

“Are you just on automatic response here? Is this windup Shiro?”

“You really do spend too much time over at Allura’s, you know.”

“It’s like, an entire decade though.”

“You know that eighteen year olds marry like sixty year olds for money all the time, right?”

“Yeah, but they’re smart about the money thing. Keith didn’t even know you were that big of a hotshot.”

“Don’t say hotshot.”

“ _Hotshot.”_

“Katie.”

“Shiro.”

“I will call your mother to come pick you up.”

“You’re no fun. Relationships took away your fun. Now you’re all responsible and caring.”

“And you just seem to enjoy poking something that doesn’t concern you.”

“Yes it does.”

“Actually.” Shiro runs the tap, filling the sink with hot water. “Amazingly, this has no affect on your person, Pidge. My relationship does not impede upon you in anyway. So for that, all I have to say is…”

Sticking his hand under the tap, he then proceeds to flick water at Pidge until she squawked and ran away. “Back off.”

**Author's Note:**

> a mild dig at people who complain about an age gap in sheith that I totally blew up a bit in favour of story. idk. people act like being 25 makes shiro a decrepit old man, and keith being late teens (like 19), makes him the equivalent of a five year old lmao
> 
> also, definitely using a few of my favourite digs i've seen when perusing twitter and tumblr searches.
> 
> feel free to send me prompts for fics on tumblr (@[hotlineaisui](www.hotlineaisui.tumblr.com)) i would love some casual prompts (esp for sheith)


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